The Well-Tempered Clavier: Complete Books I & II - Dover Classical Piano Music for Practice & Performance | Perfect for Piano Students, Teachers & Classical Music Lovers

Nadia Boulanger said that every musician should study The Well-Tempered Clavier. I value Boulanger's opinion, so that is exactly what I did.In this edition, where the manuscript by Kirnberger (Bach's student) contradicts the manuscript by Altnichol (Bach's son-in-law), both versions are presented. Czerny's edition, on the other hand, merely follows the Altnichol manuscript.Here are some of my random thoughts on the WTC:--You're probably familiar with the Bach-Gounod masterpiece. Did you know that that was a class assignment when Gounod was a student at the Paris Conservatory? I'm curious about what the other students wrote.--Sometimes experts disagree. In the C major fugue in Book II, the coda starts at measure 68 according to Keller and measure 80 according to Altschuler.--Bach, forever the symbolist, writes 24 entries of the subject in the first fugue in Book I. He uses all 12 semitones in the subject in the last fugue in Book I.--If you collect pungent dissonances, like I do, you might be interested in this one: the f minor prelude Book II has a French sixth in ms. 27 and a German sixth in ms. 55. The f# minor prelude has a French sixth in ms. 28. If you can find any more augmented sixth chords, please write back.--Someone expressed doubts that the d minor Toccata and Fugue is by Bach, since the subject is answered in the sub-dominant. But the same thing is true in the g# minor fugue in Book I.--Ravel wrote a piano piece in which the first section presents a theme, a second section presents another theme, and the third section restates both themes in quodlibet. I wonder if he got the idea from the Eb major prelude in Book I.--When I was in high school, a fellow student commented that the D major fugue in Book I wasn't very fugal. I wondered if there was something fugal about the piece which she was overlooking. Apparently not, because the printed commentary says the same thing.--The c#m fugue in Book I starts out slow, with long note values. That creates a somber mood, but it could get tiring after a while. Bach probably realized that, so that could be why he wrote a faster countermelody in measure 35 and another one in measure 49. In the B major fugue in Book II, he adds a countermelody in measure 28, and probably for the same reason.--Ever heard of the Golden Proportion? The number .616 has been alleged to have magical powers. Mozart starts most of his development sections at the .616 point from the start and his recapitulation sections ..616 from the end. But the a minor prelude in Book II is divided into two equal repeated sections. So Bach must not have gone for that sort of thing.Of the books on the subject which I have read, I would recommend Keller (B002JAWQYM) over Ledbetter (0300178956), Ledbetter over Altschuler (0316035297), and Altschuler over Kirkpatrick (0300030584).